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The Hebrew Hammer Reviews

The Hebrew Hammer is just as silly, dumb, and fun as you might expect. Packed with brilliant parodies and jabs against Jewish culture, this blaxploitation parody is executed brilliantly. Adam Goldberg delivers a genius performance that is both funny and badass, a difficult combination. Although there aren't too many laugh-out-loud moments and there a few cheesy moments too cheesy for their own good, the film manages to consistently entertain.

Made as a production for Comedy Central, this is writer/director Jonathan Kesselman's take on the detective/spoof film. Expanded from a short Kesselman made, this is the story of a super cool Jewish private eye named Mordechai Jefferson Carver, aka The Hebrew Hammer.

When Daminen, the evil son of Santa Claus kills his dad, takes over, and goes on a mission end Hanukkah, The Hebrew Hammer sets out to make things right, By his side are a nice Jewish girl, and help from his brothers at the Kwanzaa Defense League, who also seek more tolerance and acceptance during the winter holiday season.

The film is a very good natured, but very un-PC spoof film, with blaxploitation films being the primary reference point. As a fan of blaxploitation, and blaxploitation spoofs, I was immediately drawn to the concept, especially since I dig on Jewish stereotypes too, but not in a cruel way.

The film is funny, but it's more silly than anything. I dug the references I(and got most of them), but the film is really pretty shallow, and is stuffed with more jokes than substance. I did enjoy it, but it really lacked the punch that a lot of modern exploitation (and spoof) films have.

There are some really choice moments that made me squee though (and yeah, I just said squee...get over it), so even though the film is light, it's moderately amusing,. The cast are ultimately what hold it together, and you can tell they're trying hard to make things work.

Goldberg is a lot of fun as Mordechai, Judy Greer is fun as his love interest Esther, and Andy Dick is delightfully nutty as Damien. I dug the participation from the Van Peebles clan, too.

All in all, the film has its moments, but it seems to miss almost as much as it hits. As a general fan of this sort of thing, I give it a bit more credit, but overall, this is rather underwhelming.

A little late to the party on this one. Originally a 5-minute student film, at 85 minutes it strains to fill its running time, not helped by the rather feeble story (the Jewish Atomic Clock plot seems to have been improvised on the spot) and the shaky timing. The acting is disappointing as well, with Adam Goldberg, as the title character, rather uneven (he seems at times as frustrated with the script as I was), and Andy Dick, as the villain, displaying a lack of acting ability (he also seems to have improvised a fair amount of his dialogue). Mario Van Peebles, however, seems to be having a blast as the head of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, as does Sean Whalen as a demented Tiny Tim. The gimmicks come thick and fast, with some scoring (like the Hammer's ultra-Jewified Cadillac and the parody of SHAFT) and some decidedly not (the J.A.C.; the diapered old cat owned by the Hammer's mother). For all this, it has its share of entertainment value, and pared down to an hour, say, with the weaker points removed, it could be a minor classic.

The Hebrew Hammer is a very funny film and has a pretty unique story to make it an entertaining comedy from start to finish. Considering that this film has Andy Dick in it, I quite liked him in his role, despite the fact that I hate him because of his eccentric, weird and creepy track record. The film has some effective comedy that is very funny and Adam Goldberg is perfect in the lead role, and he's very funny. The film is far from perfect, but it manages in being lots of fun from start to finish. This is a mindless comedy film with a good idea for its plot, and it works. This is not a film to take seriously, and it has its flaws, but for the most part it succeeds well enough at being a fun film. The Hebrew Hammer succeeds at being an effective comedy that delivers good laughs. Like I previously said, Andy Dick is good here, and he delivers the only good performance of his career as well as his small part in Old School. This is a worthwhile comedy to watch if you want a different type of film to watch. Original and funny, The Hebrew Hammer is quite entertaining and lots of fun, even if it's not perfect. Nonetheless it's a well acted film with plenty of gags that generate good laughs, and it definitely is a refreshing take on the Christmas film genre, and it uses stereotypes well enough to generate effective laughs.

Oh my God, and here I was thinking genuine, funny exploitation films were something of the past, left in the 70's. But you know what, this is proof that the exploitation film is far from dead. Oh my God, I just don't know where to begin. I could start with the premise. A Jewish crime fighter who joins the Jewish Justice League with assistance from the Kwanzaa Liberation Front to combat the tyrannical, anti-Semitic, all-around racist Santa Claus who aims to destroy Hanukkah. And Oh sweet lord it's hilarious. It uses everything to its fullest extent and exploits everything. Of course it's offensive, but if you can deal with offensive humor and exploitation, you will find a genuinely hilarious movie that brings back everything about exploitation films. Sometimes the movie can be inconsistent, but who cares? This movie is just really, really funny in every meaning of it. It feels a bit like an episode of South Park, to be honest. I really don't know what else to say really. It's offensively drop-dead hilarious, and it really feels like a fantastic comedic exploitation film. It's on Netflix Instant Streaming, so give it a shot if you're in for this sort of movie.

There are laughs to be had, makes a good play on stereotypes and captures the blaxplotation style nicely. However, some of the jokes are old and have been done endlesly, and others run too long and lose efectiveness.

On the acting side, Andy Dick should never find work again: he used to be funny (15 years ago), but now he's gone as far as to ruin almost every scene he's in. Everyone else is capable, though Peter Coyote seems below his standard.

Again, it's a fun movie, but don't expect to roll on the floor or anything.